Blue Origin eyes Cruz's space tax

Politico

4 hours ago

With Daniel Lippman
BLUE ORIGIN REHIRES CAPITOL COUNSEL: Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin has added a familiar face to its growing mix of outside lobbyists as the industry faces a potential new tax in the GOP reconciliation bill.
— Capitol Counsel's Mac Campbell, who previously lobbied for Blue Origin in 2021, resumed working for the company last month — along with tax lobbyists David Olander and David Bridges — to 'monitor and evaluate proposed changes to the Internal Revenue Code being considered by Congress as part of the budget reconciliation process,' according to a disclosure filing.
— Under an initial version of the bill unveiled earlier this month by Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), space companies would be subject to a new user fee covering launch and reentry licenses and permits. The fee, which varies based on the weight of a spacecraft's payload, would kick in beginning next year and gradually increase before being indexed to inflation.
— A summary released by Cruz's committee estimates the fees would bring in $100 million through 2034 to support the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which is facing budget cuts as the surge of commercial spaceflight in recent years strains the office's resources.
— As Ars Technica's Stephen Clark notes, 'the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry advocacy group that includes SpaceX and Blue Origin among its membership, signaled last year it was against the idea of creating launch and reentry fees, or taxes, as some industry officials call them.'
— Capitol Counsel is the third new outside firm retained by Blue Origin this year. In January, the space company brought on S-3 Group and Ballard Partners.
— Cruz's proposal varies considerably from the potential tax threat faced by space companies the last time Capitol Counsel worked for Blue Origin. As Democrats worked to pull together what would eventually become the Inflation Reduction Act, then-Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced legislation targeting billionaire-owned space companies like Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Blumenauer proposed an excise tax for flights 'carrying human passengers for purposes other than scientific research' in an effort to offset some of the environmental impacts of space tourism. The proposal never went anywhere.
MICHAEL BEST ADDS TRUMP ALUM: Michael Best Strategies has enlisted an alum of the first Trump administration to stand up a health care practice at the firm. Ninio Fetalvo has come on as a principal from Brunswick Group, where he served as a director and head of the U.S. health and life sciences group.
— Fetalvo was an assistant White House press secretary during Trump's first term before moving over to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as director of strategic communications to Administrator Seema Verma. He also served as a comms adviser for Trump's Covid 19 task force.
— Fetalvo's move to Michael Best marks a reunion with Reince Priebus, the firm's board chair, and Tory Sendek, the firm's head of government relations, who overlapped with Fetalvo at the RNC ahead of Trump's election.
Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Thanks again to Daniel for filling in for me on Friday. What's going on out there? Add me on Signal or email me at [e-mail]. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
FLYING IN: The American Medical Manufacturers Association, which represents domestic manufacturers of medical devices and equipment like PPE, will be on the Hill tomorrow with representatives from nearly 20 different member companies.
— The fly-in will focus on pushing for policy priorities to shore up the domestic medical product supply chain. Those include targeted tariffs and tougher enforcement of trade restrictions, incentives to onshore medical manufacturing and address worker shortages, and favorable tax policies. The coalition also plans on discussing the implementation of the Make PPE in America Act and domestic procurement mandates and call for continued funding for NIOSH and its National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory.
— The coalition has meetings slated with officials from the Trump administration as well as with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa).
THE 30,000-FOOT VIEW: The second Trump administration is gutting a suite of ethics reforms aimed at clamping down on executive power, conflicts of interest and more that were put in place following the resignation of President Richard Nixon, 'essentially closing the 50-year post-Watergate chapter of American history — and ushering in a new era of shaky guardrails and blurred separation of powers,' The Washington Post's Naftali Bendavid writes.
— 'In 1976, for example, Congress created a 10-year term for FBI directors; Trump has forced out two FBI directors. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 aimed to prevent presidents from dismantling agencies; Trump has essentially done just that. Lawmakers in 1978 installed independent inspectors general in government offices; Trump has fired many of them and is seeking to replace them with loyalists.'
— 'Trump has also disregarded post-Watergate safeguards intended to prevent the unjustified firings of federal workers. His U.S. DOGE Service has skirted rules on government secrecy and personal data. He has declared numerous emergencies despite Congress's efforts to rein them in.'
— Many of the moves are subject to legal challenges. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields 'said Trump is not dismantling ethics but reviving them in a system that had become corrupted.'
MEANWHILE, IN THE STATES: 'Texas' multibillion-dollar hemp market has escaped a death sentence,' POLITICO's Mona Zhang reports, with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott vetoing a bill today that would have banned intoxicating hemp products in the state following fierce lobbying by the industry.
— 'The ban would have impacted the vast majority of hemp products in Texas' booming industry, with at least $4 billion in annual sales and more than 8,000 licensed retailers. Abbott is instead calling lawmakers back to Austin for a special session next month to pass a hemp regulatory bill.'
— 'The veto marks a major lobbying victory for the fledgling industry, which had pushed Abbot for weeks to kill the bill, arguing that the financial impact would be devastating to the state.'
Jobs report
— Dipka Bhambhani is now a senior adviser at the EPA. She is an ExxonMobil and U.S. Energy Association alum.
— Jared Hopkins is joining Brunswick Group as a director in the New York office. He previously covered health care and the pharmaceutical industry at the Wall Street Journal.
— Scott Barnes has joined Emergent BioSolutions as senior director of federal government affairs. He was most recently a financial adviser at Raymond James and is a Vertex Pharmaceuticals and American Psychiatric Association alum.
— Ariella Camera has joined the Healthcare Distribution Alliance as senior director of policy Camera is a USAID and CMS alum.
— Ben Finfrock is now deputy press secretary for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). He most recently was a freelance press and digital aide for the Dignity of Work Institute and is a Sherrod Brown alum.
— Ryan Walker is now an external relations manager at Google. He most recently was executive vice president at Heritage Action for America.
— Peter Laudeman is now senior policy adviser for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at USDA. He most recently was director of trade policy at U.S. Wheat Associates.
— Candee Chambers is now director of the Office of Public Liaison at the Labor Department. She most recently was executive director of the DirectEmployers Association.
— Christopher Kotwicki is now senior adviser for intergovernmental and external affairs at HHS. He most recently was a director at the Hargan Group and served at HHS in the first Trump administration.
— Jacob Carson is now a research assistant to the director of OMB. He most recently was development assistant at the Center for Renewing America.
— Charlie Pritchard is now a special assistant for policy at the Council on Environmental Quality. He most recently was a policy and government relations analyst at Faegre Drinker.
— Betsy Rakola is now principal risk manager for the North American food safety team at Amazon. She most recently was acting director of the Office of Tribal Relations at USDA.
— Julia Bojczuk is now director of the White House internship program. She most recently was development director at Turning Point USA.
— Elena Hernandez is now chief of staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She most recently did policy and corporate communications at YouTube and served at OSTP in the first Trump administration.
— Lara Smith is now chief of staff of the Office of the National Cyber Director at the White House. She most recently was chief of staff for public affairs, strategic initiatives and membership at PhRMA.
— Audrey LaForest joins Alliance for Automotive Innovation as director of communications. She was most recently a member of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's media relations team.
— Andrew Friedman is joining Semafor as general manager and head of public affairs, leading D.C.-based commercial operations. He previously was on Google's U.S. elections team and is a POLITICO alum.
— Gene Hamilton has rejoined America First Legal as president. He most recently was deputy White House counsel.
— Corey Husak is now director of tax policy at the Center for American Progress. He most recently was tax economist at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and is a Bob Casey alum.
— Clarissa Rojas is now doing policy comms for Pinterest. She previously was deputy communications director and national press secretary for Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and the House Democratic Caucus.
— Jenny Parker will be chief communications officer at American Promise. She previously was vice president of communications at Conservation International.None.
New PACs
Building Blue (Hybrid PAC)
Patriots for Paxton (Super PAC)
We the People, America for All (Super PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Ballard Partners: Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP On Behalf Of Worldpay, Inc.
Ballard Partners: Falcon Copper Corp.
Ballard Partners: Lego Systems, Inc.
Capitol Counsel LLC: Blue Origin, LLC
Capitol Counsel LLC: Covestro LLC
Capitol Ventures Government Relations, LLC: City Of Tulsa
Cgcn Group, LLC: Xgs Energy
Checkmate Government Relations: American Turkish Business Roundtable
Checkmate Government Relations: Nepa Wholesale, Inc.
Compass Capitol Advisors, LLC: Sedgwick Government Solutions
Federal Money Services Business Association Inc.: Federal Money Services Business Association Inc.
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Eo Solutions
Modern Fortis LLC: Action Now Initiative, LLC
Monument Advocacy: Entertainment Software Association
Park Road Trade LLC: We Pay The Tariffs
Stinson LLP: City Of Richland Hills, Texas
Taxora LLC: Taxora LLC
The Daschle Group: Vimo, Inc
New Lobbying Terminations
Center For Law And Social Policy (Clasp): Center For Law And Social Policy (Clasp)
Constellation Brands, Inc.: Constellation Brands, Inc.
Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates, Inc.: Digital Alpha Advisors LLC
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP: Mrcool LLC
Stiefel & Jones Consulting, LLC: Bering Straits Native Corporation
Stiefel & Jones Consulting, LLC: Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council (Pwsrcac)
Thorn Run Partners: Central Florida Expressway Authority
Thorn Run Partners: Lyondellbasell Industries
Tri-Branch Resolution, LLC: Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.